BOOM: Trey Gowdy Makes Announcement About Fired Benghazi Staffer That Could Send Him to Prison

A fired staffer on the House Select Committee on Benghazi who has sued the committee for unlawful termination is now being accused of mishandling classified information by committee Chairman Trey Gowdy.

Air Force Reserve Maj. Bradley F. Podliska had told The New York Times and CNN that he had been fired by Gowdy, R-S.C., because he refused to investigate former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or the State Department, instead focusing solely on the Sept. 11, 2012, attacks.

The story was echoed throughout the mainstream media in support of Clinton’s claim that the Benghazi committee investigation is tainted by partisanship. However, according to The Associated Press, Gowdy shot back with a statement Sunday that claimed that Podliska had mishandled confidential information and that it was Podliska, not Gowdy, who was improperly focused on Clinton.

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Gowdy reiterated that his committee is seeking a “definitive accounting” of the attacks.

Podliska has quickly become the new poster child of the Democrats’ attempt to divert attention from Hillary Clinton’s email scandal and spiraling poll numbers. An appearance by Podliska on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday seemed to signal the willingness of the mainstream media to play along with the new angle.

However, the fact that Podliska is seeking money through an unlawful termination suit seemed to throw some doubt upon his story. Indeed, the House Select Committee released a statement saying it “will not be blackmailed into a monetary settlement for a false allegation made by a properly terminated former employee.”

Mishandling confidential information can end in jail time (unless, of course, your last name is Clinton), which means that Podliska probably should have been happy with just a firing. However, now that the ante has been raised, the new darling of the left could find himself in serious trouble.

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While the Democrats have done everything possible to obfuscate and derail the House Select Committee on Benghazi, it hasn’t worked yet. And if Gowdy’s comments on this latest liberal gambit are any indication, the left’s attempt to end the investigation isn’t going to succeed any time in the near future.